In some of my other blogs, we examined the many pieces that need to work together to create the best donation page for your non-profit organization!
Even after all your hard work in ensuring the text is strong and your call-to-action is clear, research shows that it takes a first-time visitor only a fraction of a second to peruse your donation form and decide not to donate.
You need to have a great donation form that makes donors want to donate, and to ensure that happens there’s certain criteria that should be met.
Design:
Your non-profit organization is probably already working with an online fundraising platform that collects the donations. Each platform has its own style of donation form and you may find yourself limited in how far you can customize the look and feel of your form.
You can however, ensure that your form is uncluttered, easy to read and easy to use. Go for as few clicks as possible - each click has the potential to lose potential donors along the way.
Limit the number of fields:
The goal is to secure the donation quickly so limit the length of your donation form. Don’t scare away potential donors with long screens and endless fields, they may decide that it’s just too much hassle and abandon the whole donation.
Make sure that all required fields are really necessary and appropriate. Many addresses do not have a 2nd line between the street and city; asking for this as required information is slowing the process down.
Occasionally, there may be disagreement within your organization as to what is necessary and what is not. Fundraisers often insist they must have a phone number, whereas you know from experience and A/B testing that asking for a phone number can decrease the number of donations by about 12.5%. As a compromise I would recommend having an optional field, if it has to be there at all.
Offer gift options:
Help donors decide how much to donate by offering them a choice of various amounts. Look at previous donations your organization has received to figure out the best combination of choices for your particular cause. If the smallest donation is too high you may scare donors away; on the other hand, too low and you may lose potential funds. I always recommend going with a happy median, then add several other giving options going in increments.
At the same time, you shouldn’t restrict donors to set amounts, so always offer a “custom box” where they can enter the amount they wish to donate. This is generally found underneath the preset donation buttons.
You may like to add a description of what the amounts will cover. This gives donors a more authentic and personal impression of your campaign. Instead of just asking for $18 with no other info given, explain that $18 will cover lunch for five children.
In future blogs we'll discuss more ways to keep your donors on track, resulting in more money for your cause.
Each organization has its own dynamic needs and my goal is to help your organization move to the next level and turn your vision into donations. One way is via crowdfunding. One of the services I offer is by partnering with CauseMatch and I would love to see if crowdfunding is the right choice for your organization. You can contact me at suzanne@suzannelieberman.com; let’s start a conversation.
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